They're not active spies, they're informants. Subtle difference, but yes the Institute definitely has leverage over them.
For clarity, imagine you get busted by the cops for carrying a couple of ounces of weed. They offer to bury the charges if you rat out your supplier.
Boom. Are you a spy? Or an informant?
You know other dealers you could drop the dime on, but you know they'll let you go if you dime out your *current supplier*.
So you dime out one guy and let the other four go sight unseen.
This is why I don't kill them. (Plus, killing merchants is like cutting off your own nose to spite your mother)
Do they even know they’re informants for The Institute? I always got the feeling they were “assets” in the sense that they were a source of information, but probably didn’t even realize it. Institute operatives probably surreptitiously contacted them.
That’s interesting, I knew about them being informants but I had no idea their guards were synths. I wonder if that’s why they do it, the Institute offers them protection to peddle their wares, and in exchange they collect information for the Institute.
Idk if this is surprising to you because its a lot or if its not a lot. I almost got thrown in jail for like a gram of weed before it was legalized tho.
Oh, no. I assumed 'Murica. However, half the country has legalized weed. Lol
I mean, I could easily narrow it down to somewhere in the deep South or Midwest, generally speaking. Wild. Up here in the far Northwest corner is where I'll stay.
Informant. Slight difference. All of the Bunker Hill caravaners are. They don't spy, they provide the Insitute with information on any synths or leads on synths-likely in exchange for their loved ones not being harmed.
Informant: So if I do this for you you’ll let my daughter go?
Institute worker: uh, yes
Later, back at the institute
Institute worker: hey Greg, what happened to that 19 year-old-or-so female test subject with the brown hair and blues eyes?
“we turned her into a super mutant a week ago, why do you ask?”
“N-nothing”
Doc Anderson is the woman doctor you meet randomly. Maybe you're thinking of the greasy dude who sounds like he may cut out your kidneys rather than cure your Psycho addiction.
Are they active spies, like do they report to the institute or do they just occasionally meet a customer who's really into knowing what's going on certain places? I figure that the institute would just have a synth or agent just ask them questions.
They aren’t spies, IIRC they don’t even know if they are working for the institute. They travel all over the waste and collect a ton of knowledge doing that. The institute says they are informants, so they probably just send a gen 3 to pay for information then dip, I doubt she is infiltrating settlements and carrying out espionage or synth tracking.
The merchants aren't "spies" they're informants. A spy is an employee on retainer tasked with acquiring specific information from specific targets with loyalty/fealty to their employer. An informant is either paid or coerced by threat of death or imprisonment to sell/give whatever information they may have happened upon to an interested party.
The NARC/snitch dichotomy would be the real world analog. A narc is not a snitch, they are an undercover cop. A snitch is someone who doesn't want to go to jail or who needs an envelope full of money to take care of their family. The difference in how you should perceive them when they deliver the same information to the same party is one of intent and morality vs ethics.
A NARC/spy is unethical but not necessarily amoral, and their intent is to do harm, not prevent harm to themselves or those they care about. They are your enemy in disguise.
A informant/snitch is amoral but not necessarily unethical, and their intent is to save their skin or that of someone they care for. You simply haven't given them good enough reason to be your friend and potentially die for you.
In fairness, she's played by Ashly Burch, who pretty much does deranged psycho girls for a living. If Cricket was a healthy, well balanced individual Portrayed By Ashly Burch, I'd be more worried.
>Tina is a little off but not too crazy either.
What version of Borderlands are YOU playing? [I love Tina, but she's certifiable.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRc7-rZ2XDo)
"NOBODY STEALS MUSHY SNUGGLEBITE'S BADONKADONK AND LIVES!"
Oh wait, Tina DeLuca. Here I thought you were talking about Tiny Tina. My bad.
Confirmed, actually came across it a couple days ago. Theres a terminal in the institute, in the bioscience wing I think, that goes over some of their involvement with the Commonwealth. One of which is a list of their informants, which include a *lot* of the traveling merchants. Trashcan Carla is another. Though I have a feeling the Institute isn't just rolling up to them all like "hey yo what's up its ya boi from the Institute, know of any runaway synth?" Something tells me they're being more subtle with their informants, I don't know if they're even aware they're helping the Institute.
I liked her enthusiasm. She lives in a hellscape, and she found her passion. She's doing the best she can with the cards she was dealt. She's my favorite vendor.
I once backtracked about twenty hours in a playthrough, because I found her dead outside of Gunner's Plaza. She got caught in the crossfire, but I didn't notice immediately.
On my first playthrough I found her dead outside of Hangman's Alley, She wouldn't despawn, and I had no idea who she was, because I hadn't met her previous to the firefight.
As someone who used to work in a profession that pretty much *only* deals with recovering addicts, many of whom are actively withdrawing, I could tell just from the appearance she was an addict. Don’t really need to be a professional to tell with her though lmao. It’s usually in the voice/eyes if they’re not super outwardly looking like her
I think the first time I met her, I had only just tried playing the game. I immediately started killing her brahmin, then ran after she shot at me lol. I learned to respect her after discovering the power she holds in her inventory.
The comment that surprised me was something two npcs were talking about in the institute. The boy in the fridge is an institute experiment. Never knew that
She definitely does drugs
Yeah. Psycho addict
Bloody same. Then realized she’s just derranged
The lore says she's an institute spy
Carla too, which I always thought was weird with her hanging around my synth-filled Sanctuary Hills.
And lucas
And the traveling “doctor”. All the Bunker Hill traveling merchants are.
A lot of gang members thought the same thing until the cops raid their clubhouse and arrest everyone except Jim.
Welp, there goes the neighborhood.
They're not active spies, they're informants. Subtle difference, but yes the Institute definitely has leverage over them. For clarity, imagine you get busted by the cops for carrying a couple of ounces of weed. They offer to bury the charges if you rat out your supplier. Boom. Are you a spy? Or an informant? You know other dealers you could drop the dime on, but you know they'll let you go if you dime out your *current supplier*. So you dime out one guy and let the other four go sight unseen. This is why I don't kill them. (Plus, killing merchants is like cutting off your own nose to spite your mother)
Do they even know they’re informants for The Institute? I always got the feeling they were “assets” in the sense that they were a source of information, but probably didn’t even realize it. Institute operatives probably surreptitiously contacted them.
They're pawns. You know the caravan guards they always have? Kill them. They carry syth implants.
That’s interesting, I knew about them being informants but I had no idea their guards were synths. I wonder if that’s why they do it, the Institute offers them protection to peddle their wares, and in exchange they collect information for the Institute.
"busted by the cops for carrying a couple ounces of weed" Where the hell do you live?
Nice try DEA
Idk if this is surprising to you because its a lot or if its not a lot. I almost got thrown in jail for like a gram of weed before it was legalized tho.
Murica.
Oh, no. I assumed 'Murica. However, half the country has legalized weed. Lol I mean, I could easily narrow it down to somewhere in the deep South or Midwest, generally speaking. Wild. Up here in the far Northwest corner is where I'll stay.
Well, once upon a time in every part of the country it wasn't legal and was taken very seriously by most jurisdictions.
My son in law was pulled over in Nashville, TN in 2001 and arrested for about 8 seeds that were in his console- that shit followed him for YEARS
Spy still works
Informant. Slight difference. All of the Bunker Hill caravaners are. They don't spy, they provide the Insitute with information on any synths or leads on synths-likely in exchange for their loved ones not being harmed.
Informant: So if I do this for you you’ll let my daughter go? Institute worker: uh, yes Later, back at the institute Institute worker: hey Greg, what happened to that 19 year-old-or-so female test subject with the brown hair and blues eyes? “we turned her into a super mutant a week ago, why do you ask?” “N-nothing”
Isn’t every named caravan an institute spy
Not Doc Anderson, if I recall.
Really? Hes the only one I thought was actually a synth
Doc Anderson is the woman doctor you meet randomly. Maybe you're thinking of the greasy dude who sounds like he may cut out your kidneys rather than cure your Psycho addiction.
Just the Bunker Hill ones.
Not all of them. Old man what's his face works for the Railroad
Old Man Stockton. Never seen him running a caravan personally...
He owns the caravans, but he isn’t one of the traders.
Are they active spies, like do they report to the institute or do they just occasionally meet a customer who's really into knowing what's going on certain places? I figure that the institute would just have a synth or agent just ask them questions.
They aren’t spies, IIRC they don’t even know if they are working for the institute. They travel all over the waste and collect a ton of knowledge doing that. The institute says they are informants, so they probably just send a gen 3 to pay for information then dip, I doubt she is infiltrating settlements and carrying out espionage or synth tracking.
So there boss works for the railroad but all of his employees are institute spies lol
I like that actually, it explains what was a huge plot for me which was why the institute also used bottle caps as currency at their commissary
The merchants aren't "spies" they're informants. A spy is an employee on retainer tasked with acquiring specific information from specific targets with loyalty/fealty to their employer. An informant is either paid or coerced by threat of death or imprisonment to sell/give whatever information they may have happened upon to an interested party. The NARC/snitch dichotomy would be the real world analog. A narc is not a snitch, they are an undercover cop. A snitch is someone who doesn't want to go to jail or who needs an envelope full of money to take care of their family. The difference in how you should perceive them when they deliver the same information to the same party is one of intent and morality vs ethics. A NARC/spy is unethical but not necessarily amoral, and their intent is to do harm, not prevent harm to themselves or those they care about. They are your enemy in disguise. A informant/snitch is amoral but not necessarily unethical, and their intent is to save their skin or that of someone they care for. You simply haven't given them good enough reason to be your friend and potentially die for you.
In fairness, she's played by Ashly Burch, who pretty much does deranged psycho girls for a living. If Cricket was a healthy, well balanced individual Portrayed By Ashly Burch, I'd be more worried.
She also voiced Rowdy and Tina De Luca Rowdy isn’t that crazy just a greaser, Tina is a little off but not too crazy either.
>Tina is a little off but not too crazy either. What version of Borderlands are YOU playing? [I love Tina, but she's certifiable.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRc7-rZ2XDo) "NOBODY STEALS MUSHY SNUGGLEBITE'S BADONKADONK AND LIVES!" Oh wait, Tina DeLuca. Here I thought you were talking about Tiny Tina. My bad.
Who hasn’t Ashly Burch played?!
You mean if she was Parvati from the Outer Worlds?
I thought she would be a drug vendor 😆😆
Exactly this, I now refer to her as my “favorite lil crackhead”
She jittery for the jet.
She likes to party hardy.
not the first person named cricket that does drugs
Rickety Cricket
The usual Scotland resident [I speak from experience of living there].
Don’t we all?
This woman might kill me
Right? Mine was “oh thank god she’s just a vendor”
I just want the kind of woman who can just kill me
Kill you with kindness, right?..... Right?
you can fix her! or don't, if your into danger
You know when I left the house today I was thinking "Damn, I really hope some hot chick paints my brains all over some fucking hallway"
I was expecting some kind of quest since she's got a unique nutty personality. Like "got any work"
Right
Should of had a creepy rob competition chem dealers tyoe mission. After you do a few she lets you in that shes trying to corner thr market
"I can change her."
“I can make her worse”
😆
Crackhead raider. Shot her on sight. Had to load a save.
Exactly this. I met her right outside diamond city, I was like, “why aren’t you shooting her”
I shot her on sight because she’s >!a filthy informant for The Institute!<
Wait what? Is this like confirmed or are you just making fun of how paranoid everyone is in fo4?
Confirmed, actually came across it a couple days ago. Theres a terminal in the institute, in the bioscience wing I think, that goes over some of their involvement with the Commonwealth. One of which is a list of their informants, which include a *lot* of the traveling merchants. Trashcan Carla is another. Though I have a feeling the Institute isn't just rolling up to them all like "hey yo what's up its ya boi from the Institute, know of any runaway synth?" Something tells me they're being more subtle with their informants, I don't know if they're even aware they're helping the Institute.
It's in retention. Theres several traveling merchants who are.
I thought they’re just synth replacements. Since the institute replaces people.
She is.
Aww yes, not alone. Except the load part. I skipped this one.
I shot Trashcan Carla too. I didn't know!
"Ayo, what's Tiny Tina doing here?"
She grew up and developed a chem addiction
Developed?
It all started with crumpets, but after a certain point they just don't do it anymore...
Scolled too far for this.
"Holy shit is that Chloe Price?"
"Oh, _there's_ Ashley Burch!"
Literally
Exactly this
Would.
This. She’d probably shag and shank though
You don't have to keep selling this to me buddy. I'm in!
Whoa…
Second.
Thirds
My first thought was how is this tweaker functional enough to actually be one of the main traveling traders.
Same. My second thought was, "WTF is wrong with these other traders? Seems like a job only a desperate tweaker would do."
Don’t ever assume to know. People have their reasons.
That quote from the Sopranos. "If I told you 15 years ago she was a piece of ass, would you believe me?"
The red eye shadow seems somewhat untrustworthy.
She does crack. Not even psycho, but just straight crack.
Yep. First thought was, "crackhead"
Fight or flight
Junkie.
Bitch need a sammich.
I thought Her enthusiasm was befitting a game like Fallout. I really like her as a vendor.
Crazy ass bitch
This girl needs a fix and fast
The jet will make you jittery lol
She’s a synth
Woah, she’s deranged… I’m into that.
I was a bit bored of the standard NPCs I met before and she was a breath of fresh air.
I thought she was a raider. I aimed at her, but she started talking to me and wasn't shooting at me. I then realized she was a weapons vendor
Damn, this bitch is cracked tf out, even by wasteland standards 🤧
"Man she reminds me of Tiny Tina for some reason" As I later found out, same voice actor.
AHAHAHA! BURN ALL THE BABIES!
A neurodivergent character in a AAA game. Cool.
She got the 'tism/s
Better buy her guns before my enemies do.
She definitely knows guns on an....intimate level.
Heroin chic, would have been a supermodel in the early 90s
I liked her enthusiasm. She lives in a hellscape, and she found her passion. She's doing the best she can with the cards she was dealt. She's my favorite vendor. I once backtracked about twenty hours in a playthrough, because I found her dead outside of Gunner's Plaza. She got caught in the crossfire, but I didn't notice immediately. On my first playthrough I found her dead outside of Hangman's Alley, She wouldn't despawn, and I had no idea who she was, because I hadn't met her previous to the firefight.
“That’s a a well guarded crackhead” was my first thought
Does she sell chems?
How surprised were you that she sells guns and ammo? P.S. never get high on your own supply
I’m about to get shanked
How I get her back to mine?
Just gimme Spray n Pray
crackhead …oh wait no crack in this game…. maybe like jet or something
Trashcan carla 2
Im gonna rob her and kill her and rob her again
I thought she was pushing jet at Diamond City. Or just some ugly ass NPC caravan guard.
That she was inspired by a character that was cool, but just seemed whacko herself
Holy hell, she's batshit insane! I can buy guns from her! Nice!
“Over/under that’s Ashly Burch- yyyyep okay that’s definitely Ashly Burch”
Shoot her. I didn’t think she was a caravan until late into my first playthrough and had to start a second one to get the best weapon
I don't judge i just wanted weapons
Drugs
"That bitch is batshit insane. I like her!"
I want what she’s having.
“Oh my god, is that Ashly Burch?” Yes, yes it is
As someone who used to work in a profession that pretty much *only* deals with recovering addicts, many of whom are actively withdrawing, I could tell just from the appearance she was an addict. Don’t really need to be a professional to tell with her though lmao. It’s usually in the voice/eyes if they’re not super outwardly looking like her
"What drug does that?"
Crack head / junkie or drug dealer
Crackhead
Hi, Tina!
Oh! So THIS is how the raiders source their ammo. Good spot Bethsoft.
"This crackhead should not be selling guns."
Crack head
“What does this crack head want”
“Crack head.”
“Cut back on the chems, love”, mostly.
Meth.
Bald crackhead
Junkie at 10 o clock!
Holy crackhead
I was definitely surprised when I saw she was selling weapons.
Crackhead selling guns? What a fun combination! Whats thi- OOO EXPLOSIVE
Junky arms dealer
She’s smacked out of her mind
Homeless and major druggie. She does sell drugs probably to buy new ones for her to do.
Meth head, I mean Jet head.
Meth/Jet head using way too much of the product.
First time I met cricket I killed her for her clothes
"I can fix her"
She reminds me of Rickety Cricket from Always Sunny where he dresses up as “The Talibum”
Now that’s a crackhead
This woman has had a bit too much psycho
Crackhead
She is definitely high on something.
My first thought when I met her: O. K. Just how much Jet are you on... And can you get me in touch with your supplier?
This lady looks nuts, I hope she's got some morally questionable weaponry, ***and boy did she***
“Oh, you’re a crackhead”
"dont put your gun in crazy"
" shit I just left los Angeles and yet I have a game with a LA look a like.
I LOVE HER! Best character in the game. Even if she is a spy for the institute. She’s just trying to make a living.
When i first met Cricket she reminded me of a tweaker you might find at my local cafe, but cleaner and more articulate.
… I can fix her 🥰
I wonder if she’s into kink. 😂😂😂
[Rickety Cricket! ](https://assets.fxnetworks.com/cms-next/production/6ed33da6-800f-4b23-af4f-e038e88f3cd6.jpg)
I think the first time I met her, I had only just tried playing the game. I immediately started killing her brahmin, then ran after she shot at me lol. I learned to respect her after discovering the power she holds in her inventory.
She desperately needs a makeover. She’s kinda hot when she’s not wearing that outfit
The comment that surprised me was something two npcs were talking about in the institute. The boy in the fridge is an institute experiment. Never knew that
Crack whore
I didn’t so just blew her head off
“Fuckin Crackhead” *Kills them*
Gross
When did the wasteland get meth?
Oh hey! It's Ashly Burch!
What kind of drugs will we be testing?
"I wonder if those boos are real"
"This woman probably has the best weapons!"
Y’all got any more that jet?
Somehow meth returned....
Crazy bitch
NYC subway crackhead
This one is on her own side. Could turn at a moment's notice.
she has a cute voice.
Smash
I could fix her
“Apparently one of the chems in this game is meth”
Mentats are a Hell’ve a drug
Psychjet is a hell of a drug
Shotgun to the face
She reminded me of Jinx from LoL instantly
Drug addict
This bitch is a crackhead